A set of three observations with the orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera shows Beagle 2 partially deployed on the surface of the planet, ending the mystery of what happened to the mission more than a decade ago. They show that the lander survived its Dec. 25, 2003, touchdown enough to at least partially deploy its solar arrays.

Beagle 2 hitched a ride to Mars on the European Space Agency's long-lived Mars Express mission. It was a collaboration between industry and academia designed to deliver world-class science from the surface of the Red Planet.

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Using an imaging spectrometer on MRO, researchers detected signatures of hydrated minerals on slopes where mysterious streaks are seen on the Red Planet. These darkish streaks appear to ebb and flow over time. They darken and appear to flow down steep slopes during warm seasons, and then fade in cooler seasons. They appear in several locations on Mars when temperatures are above minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23 Celsius), and disappear at colder times.

These downhill flows (seen above), known as recurring slope lineae (RSL), often have been described as possibly related to liquid water. The new findings of hydrated salts on the slopes point to what that relationship may be to these dark features. The hydrated salts would lower the freezing point of a liquid brine, just as salt on roads here on Earth causes ice and snow to melt more rapidly. Scientists say it’s likely a shallow subsurface flow, with enough water wicking to the surface to explain the darkening.

Man Will Never Be Free Until The Last King Is Strangled With The Entrails Of The Last Priest

Curiosity is taking selfies while it runs diagnostics on a malfunctioning actuator.

The mission's examination of active sand dunes -- the first ever studied up close other than on Earth -- is providing information about active dune processes in conditions with much less atmosphere and less gravity than on Earth.

One part of the dune investigation is to view the same location repeatedly to check for movement of sand grains caused by wind on Mars. If movement occurs, the team can use the rover's wind measurements to figure out the strength and direction of the winds that caused the movement.

During processing of the third sample [of sand], an actuator in the sample-processing device did not perform as expected when commanded.

While diagnostic work progresses, the team is continuing to use the remote-sensing instruments on Curiosity's mast and environmental monitoring instruments.

Man Will Never Be Free Until The Last King Is Strangled With The Entrails Of The Last Priest

RampantBadger wrote:bono is on full turbo fisting mode right now. Have had to sack off work and am lying in bed watching police squad 5 minutes at a time, then having to take a 10 minute break before I gavomit.

The Martian buttes and mesas rising above the surface are eroded remnants of ancient sandstone that originated when winds deposited sand after lower Mount Sharp had formed.

"Studying these buttes up close has given us a better understanding of ancient sand dunes that formed and were buried, chemically changed by groundwater, exhumed and eroded to form the landscape that we see today," Vasavada said.

The new images represent Curiosity's last stop in the Murray Buttes, where the rover has been driving for just over one month. As of this week, Curiosity has exited these buttes toward the south, driving up to the base of the final butte on its way out. In this location, the rover began its latest drilling campaign (on Sept. 9). After this drilling is completed, Curiosity will continue farther south and higher up Mount Sharp, leaving behind these spectacular formations.

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The anaglyph images of Mars taken by the HiRISE camera holds information about the topography of Mars surface. There are hundreds of high-resolution images of this type. This gives the opportunity to create different studies in 3D. In this film I have chosen some locations and processed the images into panning video clips. There is a feeling that you are flying above Mars looking down watching interesting locations on the planet. And there are really great places on Mars! I would love to see images taken by a landscape photographer on Mars, especially from the polar regions. But I'm afraid I won't see that kind of images during my lifetime.

Man Will Never Be Free Until The Last King Is Strangled With The Entrails Of The Last Priest

Using the most powerful telescope ever sent to Mars, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter caught a view of the Curiosity rover this month amid rocky mountainside terrain.

The car-size rover, climbing up lower Mount Sharp toward its next destination, appears as a blue dab against a background of tan rocks and dark sand in the enhanced-color image from the orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera. The exaggerated color, showing differences in Mars surface materials, makes Curiosity appear bluer than it really looks.

The image was taken on June 5, 2017, two months before the fifth anniversary of Curiosity's landing near Mount Sharp on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6, 2017, EDT and Universal Time).

MSL have released a paper documenting the success of the AEGIS software which allows Curiosity to autonomously run experiments while waiting for manual directives.

AEGIS lets Curiosity pick its own targets on which to focus its ChemCam, an instrument that first vaporizes Martian rocks with a laser and then studies the resulting gases. AEGIS does so after analysing images captured by Curiosity's NavCam, which snaps stereo images, and also using ChemCam’s own Remote Micro-Imager context camera. Once it detects a worthy target, ChemCam puts the nuclear-powered space tank's laser to work eliminating Martian pebbles.

The paper says AEGIS now goes to work after most of Curiosity's short drives across Mars, and “has proven useful in rapidly gathering geochemical measurements and making use of otherwise idle time between the end of the drive and the next planning cycle.” 54 slices of idle time to be precise, as that's the number of occasions on which Curiosity's had enough juice to run it.

The software is making good assessments of what to zap and sniff: the paper says “in a number of cases [AEGIS] has chosen rock targets which were among the same ones that were independently ranked highly by the science team for study.” The result is better-targeted work, as Curiosity was previously set to do blind targeting “at pre-selected angles with respect to the rover, without knowing what it would find at that position post-drive.” Now it's focussing in on outcrops, a desirable target.

AEGIS is also finding interesting stuff, with the paper saying its autonomous observations “have in several cases resulted in discoveries that prompted further analysis by the mission.”

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